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Requirements for Teaching Online

Faculty interested in teaching online should seek approval from their department chair as the first step in the online course development process. After proper approval, it is recommended that faculty complete each of the below items prior to teaching their first online course. Once a faculty member has completed all the recommended training, they may develop additional online courses on their own. However, it is recommended that each new online course go through the final step of a course review with the Educational Technologist prior to being offered the first time.

Faculty should attend the Online Education Workshop, which is a two-hour session covering topics including Fisher's online teaching and learning philosophy, the differences between online courses and traditional face-to-face courses and services available for online courses at Fisher.

Faculty should participate in the Fundamentals of Online Teaching training course. This course is a four-week online experience offered within Blackboard. Faculty in this course will experience what it is like to be an online student while completing readings, participating in online discussions and submitting assignments related to the design and delivery of online courses.

Faculty should participate in a one-on-one course review with the Educational Technologist. The course review rubric used by the Educational Technologist will be provided in the Online Education Workshop. All new online courses should participate in this step, even if the faculty member designing the course has designed prior online courses.

The Online Education Workshop and the Fundamentals of Online Teaching course will typically be offered once per semester pending sufficient enrollment. Adequate time to participate in training and development of the online course should be planned prior to the first offering of the course. This will be at least a semester in advance, potentially longer depending on the nature of the course. Contact the Educational Technologist for upcoming training dates.

Please Note:

The guidelines presented in this section have been developed as part of the College's pilot online program initiative, the RN to BSN Online program. Individual schools and the faculty governance system have or will be developing guidelines and policies pertaining to online course offerings outside of this pilot program. Faculty members exploring online options need to consult with their Chair and/or Dean to learn of their options and relevant policies. In addition, any plans to pursue an online option must be communicated to the Provost's Office from the outset.